Quote Originally Posted by ginny View Post
So, I am still pretty new to cycling. I have had this weird thing happen about three times now. Keep in mind that I have a grumpy belly in the best of times... but while riding (and usually during a tough ride), I get this HORRIBLE belly ache. I just want to stop and curl up in a ball on the side of the road. Now, I have thought maybe it's a posture thing... I don't know. Does anyone have any suggestions? The tummy ache is sort of a slow pulsating thing.... comes on... feel like I'm going to die... kind of recedes a bit... comes back.... think I'm going to die again... then it sort of goes away and just lurks for the rest of the ride. Descriptive, huh?
Ginny,
I had this happen to me a couple of times, but it may or may not be the same as what you had.
It was just like a terrible upset stomache that made me want to lie down just on the side of the road, it was so bad i could not continue riding I was so bent over in pain. Every time I would stop it got better, then as soon as I started pedaling again it would start up.
I don't get this anymore now, I only experienced it early on, when I was revving up my ride distances and difficulties in hills.
I don't want to alarm you, since you could easily have something else going on entirely- but after doing some reading I came to the conclusion for myself that this "upset stomach" was actually a symptom of my heart being under stress during those times. I am not diagnosing anything here, but simply mentioning one of many possibilities. One of the early symptoms of heart stress in women is a sensation of having a very bad upset stomach. If by any chance your problem has anything to do with circulatory/aerobic stress, then you might want to back off just a bit in terms of pushing yourself to your limits and concentrate on increasing your ride difficulty levels more slowly. Going more slowly won't hurt anything, in any case!
After a whole summer of building myself up more, i no longer seem to get these horrible "stomach aches" even on harder rides and hills.
Good luck- I feel your pain!!